Headquarters for the Slender Fungus Cycling Association

Brewers of Hardy Rides.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

August and the summer is slipping away.

As we enter the month of August the summer heat is seeming to dwindle. Today was a wonderful day and there was plenty of sunshine and dry heat. I was not able to get on the bike because we are still trying to get the house in order to start the new school year. We are giving up hope with Xfinity and are going to try a smaller company and see how they work. As I come back to IL and move into a more "urban" area I have noticed my dislike for technology. Today I was in Costco and was amazed at the new t.v.'s that are out. They are so big, have so many features, have Wifi, HD, and I don't know what other features. I got scared for a moment and just wanted to say no to all of it. We have had a hard time with getting service that works at home. That is why my blogging has been so sporadic. Have we become so dependent on all this crap? Are we losing touch? There is this frantic desperation to be informed and in contact all the time and that gets me tired. I have pondered with the idea of letting go of this blog many a times. I have kept it going just to convey some ideas and to give cycling all the help it needs. I hope you share my idea that technology has gone nuts. I will commence to ride more, perhaps type more since I cannot figure out how to download my pictures yet. Tomorrow the gang will get out for our Sunday road ride to Batavia and back and I will get another chance to turn those pedals. I hope I am never forced to run an electronic shifting system on my bike. I love my cables too much. As many of you have read Trans Iowa 9 has been announced and the Slender Fungus will start planning this wonderful expedition to the Strade Bianche of Iowa. Thank you Guitar Ted for the extreme effort to put on another Trans Iowa for us riders. Giggles, Cookie and I will be there for sure. I can't wait to start going on long rides again.

3 comments:

I just came back from a big ride in Wisconsin (Dairyland Dare). I saw at least 5 bikes with electronic shifting, one of the Campagnolo!People kept asking me if my Colnago was steel, like they could not believe that I rode such an antique.sigh...I am getting old.Good luck with coming back to civilization.Tomás

Hello! Thanks for the honor of your consideration of Trans Iowa. Much appreciated!

On the blog you have- If you inspire one person to ride for the obvious joy and passion for cycling that you display here, that would be worth it to blog here, no?

I encourage you to carry on in the hopes that you are doing this, (and make no mistake, you are doing it), and do not write here unless the fit takes you and you have to uncork another gem of a story or another discourse on a ride you did. I love those stories myself.

My little hit counter, Hooray for technology!

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About Me

I have been a bicycle aficionado since I was 5 years old. I saw for the first time some short broadcast of the Tour de France on t.v. in 1968. We had an old Black and White at the time and that is all I needed that day to fall in love with the bike. I begged with all my might to receive the coveted Tour de France Motobecane that I had spotted at a department store. My dad assured me I was too short to ride it. It had 700c wheels and a full size adult frame. Ever since that day cycling has guided me through the toughest moments of my life. Commuting, racing cross, working at shops, meeting industry people, working on shitty repairs, building over 1,300 wheels and Bike shop hopping for over 17 years. My next goals are to take all this a step foward and see how far I can push all this time and energy. With the help and support of family and some very reliable pals I think it is time to open a serious boutique shop. This is my next project once all is figured out. I want to continue the "real tradition" that is European style road cycling and not the dorky, heavy, triplechainring gang-gangly ill fitting bikes that the corporate companies are falsely selling us.